.
INTEGRATING NEW "PROGRAMMING"
In my opinion, long term energy attachments are not detrimental in and of themselves, but in the energetic stamp, that "imprint" they create in someone's auric energy field, and the resultant "pattern" it sets up that feeds on itself, in addition to the individual. That's the insidious part, that's the part that's hard to heal. It's like a
computer virus; it keeps replicating and growing, creating new problems and fears within the individual's mind and entire life, that weren't there before.
The healing itself depends on several factors: the severity of the damage done by the attachment, the competence of the healer, the efficacy of the healer's methods, but most importantly, the determination of the healed person to be fully healed. You could remove the attachment, but then there's
the "integration" of the new, healed energy that needs to happen. That's the real challenge. A new energy pattern has to be reinforced by the healed person,
not the healer. The healed person is as much responsible for their healing as the healer, perhaps even moreso. Integration needs to "take," and that may require weeks, months or years of committed effort the healed person needs to put forth.
The healed person's behavior, thought habits, beliefs about life, beliefs about the world, as well as their lifestyle habits, even whom they choose to socialize with during off hours --
everything needs to be brought under a microscope by the healed person, examined, and adjusted accordingly to accommodate the new healed energy. This means both minute and sweeping personal changes may need to be made. Is the healed person willing to commit to making every one of those changes, as need be? Or will the person lose their discipline, and go back to the same thoughts and behaviors that perpetuated the problem before the healing? That's the real question.
Case in point: had a relative who developed lung cancer. He goes through months and months of arduous chemotherapy, drops a lot of weight, looks and feels horrible, takes a dozen Big Pharma prescription drugs daily, etc. Yet one day I come to his house, and what is he doing? You guessed it ...smoking cigarettes. I don't need to say how this story ended not long after that. The irony was that the chemo had worked, the cancer had been in remission. But
he hadn't maintained the non-smoking behavior as he was directed to, so the cancer came back, with a fury.
HOLDING ON TO PAIN FOR THAT SECONDARY GAIN
Another case in point: I had one of the best healers I know energetically clean up some lady's house. It was haunted and just generally sickening-feeling in there. I visited after the cleaning --from wall to wall, ceiling to floor, the energy there was clean as a baby's behind. I even sat with the lady for 3 hours, helping her come up with a new life gameplan, listening to her fears, her life experiences since childhood, her many illnesses, etc. I even put the plan in writing for her. Months later, her home was back to being the nauseating, energetic mudhole it had been before. And her mindset was as negative as ever.
She hadn't applied a single suggestion made to her, hadn't even tried, gave nothing but excuses.
For whatever reason,
some people "hold on" to their illnesses, though outwardly they protest loudly about how much they hate it, how much they want it to change, etc. They're getting some kind of "
secondary gain" out of it, as I've heard it described in psychology. Some people intentionally prefer these "illnesses," and oddly enough, don't even realize they're doing so. I didn't know at the time, but I was one in a long line of people who have tried to help that woman --a feng shui consultant, a pagan cleric, a Christian cleric, advanced psychic students from a local metaphysical school, etc.
Based on experiences I've had being around healers, being around the healed, and having received healings myself, I would venture that your assessment of your friend's situation is correct. If he's seen that many healers, if you yourself don't even feel the entity there anymore (and I've read enough of your posts to know you're pretty perceptive about energetic issues like this), then
I doubt the problem really is any kind of attachment. More likely, he has not yet integrated the new, healed energy pattern into his life. Like I said,
it could take years (I am experiencing this myself with certain matters for which I have already received healing, but the related negative patterns are still there, so I know how tough they can be to root out). Without determination and effort, a person just marches in place.
EVOCATION VS. RETRIEVAL:
SIX OF ONE, HALF DOZEN OF THE OTHER
As far as the evocation method vs. the soul retrieval method for this situation,
I think you're right, the soul retrieval is all that's needed. There aren't too many ailments a soul retrieval, done correctly and with authority, can't fix. No doubt, since he's had this long term fear that something is harming him, and that nobody has been able to heal him (in his mind), then by now he has experienced quite a bit of soul fright, or "
susto" as it's called. A shaman could definitely fix that. But, then there's another thing to consider.
Let's also remember the "placebo effect" factor here, in that if someone strongly believes some modality is gonna' heal him or her, then their belief alone brings about the healing, moreso than the actual modality. Remember the anecdotal stories about the efficacy of sugar pill panaceas. So, if it's evocation he's just
gotta' have, perhaps you could just support him in that.
Be prepared, though, for the very real possibility that no matter what he does --evocation or retrieval-- it still might not "help." He may still complain of having the attachment. Be prepared that on some level, your friend might really have an issue with the "
thought forms" that he's holding onto, as you mentioned. Even more than that,
he might actually be enjoying all this attention lavished upon him by you, by all these "healers," etc. Maybe he
Loves all the Luv.
Yet another case in point: I came across the story of an elderly lady, who could walk just fine, but insisted she had an "injury," so that her husband had to push her around in a wheel chair all the time. I kid you not! That's just wrong, but it is a documented truth, and unfortunately, all too common.
PATHWORKING AND TALK THERAPY
Honestly, if anything, I think the energetic work that would really be beneficial for him is some kind of
pathworking. Yeah, I know most guys won't find pathworking dramatic and swashbuckling as an "evocation" involving all these powerful beings and impressive chants, or a "soul retrieval" complete with some shaman slapping around a bunch of negative entities, lol. Your friend might think "
action flick metaphysics" is more effective than any old "
chick flick metaphysics." Yeah, whatever. I still think there's a chance that
pathworking would be good for him, a way to "rewrite his script," reframe both what's happened to him in the past, and where he sees himself in the future...sans the "attachment."
Also, some professional counseling by a competent psychotherapist might eventually be in order. There may some shadow issues needing to be brought to light, some other deep-seated fears underlying all of this. My reading work has made me wonder whether the majority of people who consult psychics (or witches, or shamans, etc.) really need to see a conventional therapist, and not a metaphysician. But, it doesn't hurt to see both, simultaneously; no reason both the magical/energetic stuff,
and the conventional therapy stuff can't complement each other.
People do that all the time, combine Big Pharma-type medical services with Old World alternative healing modalities. In fact, lately I've been seriously looking into undertaking some kind of master's degree program in Marriage and Family Counseling for this very reason, so I'll have tools from both the spiritual and mundane worlds with which to help people.
.